Melania Trump plagiarizes her convention speech from Michelle Obama

On Monday evening, Melania Trump delivered her first major address before the nation, which seemed like a bigger challenge than she could handle, since she basically plagiarized parts of first lady Michelle Obama’s speech given at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Below are the plagiarized passages concerning the importance of hard work and honesty.

Trump said “From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect.” In 2008, Michelle Obama said “You work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them.”

Another line Trump seems to have stolen is related to children. She says “We want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.” The first lady’s words in 2008 were “We want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”

Melania Trump’s Monday night primetime speech was the highlight of the first night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, and it is yet unclear how much of it was actually written by Melania. However, according to an article on The Huffington Post, earlier that day, she declared “I read once over it and that’s all. Because I wrote it and with [as] little help as possible.”

Reactions to the news were not many in terms of defense. Jason Miller, the Trump communication adviser, acknowledged early on Tuesday that Melania plagiarized parts of her speech and made a reference to a “team of writers”, which would contradict her claim that she wrote the speech herself.

Miller’s statement reads: “In writing her beautiful speech, Melania’s team of writers took notes on her life’s inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking. Melania’s immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success.”

Caroline Parker has a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from the University of Bucharest. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in the same field. She specializes in gender issues, ethnic minorities, and has a passion for literature, but she loves to find out more about any subject she comes across. When she is not busy with her studies, she is attending conferences, seeing plays which deal with contemporary issues in society, traveling, taking photos for her Instagram account, and watching beauty related vlogs. She aims to become a published writer and to pursue a Ph.D. is the field of gender studies.